


Slide

by glitterandgin



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, it's literally just sock sliding fluff, sock sliding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-05 00:50:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5354630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterandgin/pseuds/glitterandgin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nathaniel learns an important lesson about socks and newly mopped floors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slide

“These are so thick. It’s like I stuck my foot in a ram. How do shems wear these all the time?”

Nathaniel looked up from his book, raising an eyebrow at the commotion coming from the next room. There was a moment of reprieve, and then a thump as if someone had run into the bookshelves at full speed.

“And the seams irritate my toes.”

“Then turn them inside out,” Anders said a touch breathlessly. “You have to admit this is fun.”

Already regretting his decision, Nathaniel put down his book and walked to the next room.

Velanna was on the floor, glaring at a pair of woolen socks as though their very existence was an insult to her. Sigrun lay on the ground, clutching her head and groaning. That left--

Anders, who was sliding towards Nathaniel with speed and gracelessness that all but guaranteed a painful collision. Before he could think to step out of the way, Nathaniel found his arms full of the mage, who held onto his neck and leaned into the impromptu embrace. Anders’ socks squeaked against the wooden floor, and he clutched Nathaniel tighter.

“Told you I was quite a catch,” Anders said as he struggled to keep from slipping.

Nathaniel shook his head, his arms still wrapped around Anders’ waist. At this distance, Anders’ breaths tickled against his skin, and his heartbeat resonated through his robes and into Nathaniel’s fingertips. “Do I want to know what you’re doing?”

Anders laughed, and Nathaniel felt it in his ribs. “They just finished mopping the floors.”

“What does that have to do with…?” Nathaniel said, taking a hand off of Anders’ waist to gesture at the chaos behind them. Sigrun had yet to sit up from the floor, and Velanna looked close to lighting the offending garments on fire.

“We’re sock sliding! Come on, you can’t pretend you didn’t do this as a child,” Anders said, his smile fading slightly when Nathaniel remained confused. “Maker, you didn’t. Take off your shoes; we need to fix this!”

Nathaniel stood in thought for a moment, his hands on Anders’ waist even after Anders had let go of his neck. There were really very few ways he could envision this ending well, but Anders’ smile chipped away at his reason until he found himself stepping away to take off his shoes.

Anders’ smile was practically a physical force at this point. “Okay, now watch me. It’s pretty simple.”

Anders took a few tentative steps away from Nathaniel before launching into a mad dash, stopping suddenly, and skidding across the floor. He stopped just inches away from the bookshelf.

Nathaniel blinked, shook his head in one final attempt to shake Anders’ smile out of his subconscious, and followed suit, crashing into the bookshelf despite his desperate attempts at braking. Wincing and staggering towards Anders, he said, “And you consider this fun?”

“Well, it’s a lot more fun once you’ve learned how to stop properly,” he said with a shrug. “Still, that wasn’t bad for your first try. Here, take my hand.”

Nathaniel did, holding it as though they were about to dance at an Orlesian ball. They walked to the far end of the room, each step calculated to avoid slipping. Once they’d reached the far wall, Anders said, “On three?”

Nathaniel nodded. This was a terrible idea. There was literally no way this would end well; Sigrun was evidence enough of that. Before he could back out, Anders squeezed his hand and said, “Three!”

They took off running, matching pace with surprising ease until Anders stopped suddenly, jolting Nathaniel out of his sprint and causing him to scrabble for solid footing. After a short, panicked attempt at standing without slipping, Nathaniel fell to the floor, dragging Anders down with him.

“That ended better in my head,” Anders said, making a half-hearted attempt at sitting up before falling back onto the floor.

“I should hope so.” Nathaniel rubbed his head with his free hand, still holding Anders’ hand with his other. “That’s going to hurt for a while.”

“Want me to kiss it and make it better?” Anders said, sitting up properly.

Nathaniel blinked, waiting for Anders to laugh at his own joke. When no laughter was forthcoming, he propped himself up on one arm and nodded, the motion just small enough that Anders could pretend he hadn’t seen it if his offer had been in jest. Barely a second later, Anders had leaned over and pressed his lips against Nathaniel’s. As they kissed, healing magic trickled from Anders’ lips and flowed through Nathaniel, filling him with energy while his bruises disappeared. Nathaniel gasped, pulling Anders closer and tugging the tie out of his hair.

Anders pulled back just enough to speak and said, “Just so you know, this isn’t a usual part of sock sliding.”

Nathaniel chuckled and kissed him again.

 

 


End file.
